A$AP Ferg

A$AP Ferg is looking over a selection of sushi at Whole Foods in downtown Manhattan. I suggest the crispy crab roll, but he balks. He's been a pescataerian for a year, and he's still figuring out a balance. Eventually, he goes with spicy tuna. "I’m slowly moving toward being a vegetarian, because I’m getting sick of fish," the Harlem rapper says. "I told my girl that I could live off grilled cheese for the rest of my life, and I’d be good."

Over the last couple of years, Ferg has proven himself to be the most exciting artist within A$AP Mob, aside from crew leader (and fellow pescatarian) A$AP Rocky. He broke through on the strength of his drop-in on “Kissin’ Pink”, a vivid cut that easily stood out on Rocky’s debut mixtape LIVELOVEA$AP. There, Ferg unbottled a free-flowing, sing-song-y verse that teetered between unhinged, delirious, funny, hammy, and catchy all at once. Now he's prepping his solo debut, Trap Lord, due out in July. Stocky, warm, and collected, he gave me a preview of the tape, playing it over his SUV's stereo via his own busted laptop. Along with tracks that lined up with his solo songs from A$AP Mob's 2012 release Lords Never Worry, there was also more experimental fare, like "Cocaine Castle", a lush drug epic.

Born Darold Ferguson, Jr., the rapper comes from a Harlem hip-hop lineage, as his father designed the famed Bad Boy Entertainment logo. And like Rocky, Ferg's artistic worldview isn't limited to hip-hop-- a graduate of NYC's High School of Art and Design (which counts Mobb Deep and Fabolous among its alumni), he's studied fashion and fine arts, and cites Salvador Dali, Roy Lichtenstein, and Jeff Koons as his favorite visual artists. "There’s never been kids like us that come from Harlem," he says. "We represent Dipset all the way to Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, and Basquiat."

We spoke about his ambitions for Trap Lord, being as big as Jesus, and his unique style.

Pitchfork: Where was your head at artistically while making Trap Lord?

A$AP Ferg: I wanted it to sound sonically different from everything else. It’s real cloud-like music-- music from my dreams and fantasies. I want to make colossal-type music that you could put on while you’re playing your video games, or music from scores of movies where serious things happen. I didn’t want it to sound like regular trap songs. Not that I have any problem with trap music-- I mean, it’s called Trap Lord. But it didn’t come from creating trap music. I call myself “Trap Lord” because I’m the lord of the trap. And my trap is rap. And I’m really good at it. But I don’t make “trap music.”

Pitchfork: At this point, what are your overall goals as an artist?

AF: I wanna be as known as Jesus. I feel like Michael Jackson reached that pinnacle-- the same amount of people who know who Jesus is know who Michael Jackson is. I want to become an iconic figure. I don’t want to be your average rapper. I want to be considered an artist. I create things with different mediums besides words and lyrics, but right now I want to focus on the music. Once that is potent and people get the hang of what I’m doing, I can move to the next thing.

AF: A lot of my friends weren’t fond of my singing, they were like, “What are you doing?” But what they don’t know is that I got split personalities. I’m A$AP Ferg when I’m with the group, but I could turn into the Fergenstein, or the Trap Lord. On “Kissin’ Pink”, I was the Fergenstein, doing whatever was on my mind. I feel like somebody had to be that guy on a track. Rocky took the cool, smooth approach, and he left room for me to do whatever I did on the song. I took advantage of the opportunity.

Pitchfork: Are there any songs on the tape you're especially excited about?

AF: “Shabba” was the last song that I recorded for the album, and the shit is fucking crazy. Rocky’s going to shoot the video. I feel like that’s going to be the next single. It’s going to be crazier than “Work”, but the “Work” remix is retarded. It’s not even retarded, it’s crazy and retarded-- cra-tarded. And I shouted out Pitchfork in “Shabba”.

Pitchfork: We didn’t clear that! [laughs]

AF: I said, “Short nigga, but my dick tall/ What I told your bitch, dog/ Only thug nigga down at the Pitchfork/ Dirty van bitches want to suck my dick off/ Pop a xany for a penny get to hit floor/ Run up in a shiv raw/ I got a girl, I ain’t never got no fucking condoms/ If she caught me then that bitch would be pissed off/ Real nigga shit.”

AF: He’s a dope artist, one of those forgotten Jamaican icons. And he had his own style. He had all the rings, all the girls around him, the custom suits with a custom haircut to go with it. Suede shoes with no socks. Ankle bracelets. He was fucking jiggy as shit. He defined jiggy, so I wanted to recapture the moment. I feel like I might be the modern day Shabba Ranks.